$3.2 million from reserves needed for overcrowding issues

Aug. 12, 2013

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Poughkeepsie Journal

ONLINE

A lack of space and overtime hours at the Dutchess County Jail has led to a request for more taxpayer dollars to cover expenses through the end of the year, while little movement has been made to stop future costs from escalating.

Jail officials are asking the county Legislature to spend $3.2 million of its reserve accounts to pay for one-on-one supervision of high-risk inmates and the boarding of inmates in other counties’ jails, according to a resolution before lawmakers.

“This is just another example of the challenges and fiscal impact facing the county because of our overcrowding,” said Legislature Chairman Robert Rolison, R-Poughkeepsie.

The annually increasing jail budget — caused by more than nearly twice as many inmates as jails cells, some officials say — has led to proposed temporary inmate housing “pods” installed at the jail and an expansion or construction of a larger jail.

Much progress is still needed before county residents begin to see a reduction of tax dollars spent on jail costs, according to Journal research.

Funding of $1.2 million for the study to determine where to build a new jail and what it should look like was approved two months ago by the Legislature, but the county hasn’t begun the study, deemed Project Definition, county spokeswoman Colleen Pillus said.

The state Commission of Correction, which oversees jails, has yet to receive any formal plans to add temporary “pods” at the jail site. Its approval is also contingent on county Legislature approvals to expand or build a new jail.

Meanwhile, jail costs continue to rise.

Legislators will vote tonight on the $3.2 million jail request. If authorized, the jail’s 2013 adopted budget of $35.8 million would swell to $39 million.

Overtime expenditures would increase from $2.8 million to $4 million for 2013. Housing-out costs would jump from $4.2 million to $6.2 million.

The expended jail budget was $37.4 million in 2012, $34.8 million in 2011, $32.6 million in 2010 and $29.2 million in 2010, county budgets show.

“We just can’t keep spending this kind of money,” said Legislator Steve White, D-Poughkeepsie. “We are going to unless we are able to keep these people (inmates) here.”

One short-term solution is to install temporary units at its jail to house the overflow of inmates by early next year. The state Commission of Correction is working on a memorandum of agreement that will outline the steps the county has to take to get its approval, commission spokeswoman Janine Kava said.

“We want to get everyone on the same page,” she said.

Those approvals tie into plans to build or expand a new jail.

Yet, the county hasn’t released its request for proposals for the next phase in the jail study, Pillus said Friday.

The Legislature voted June 11 to approve $1.2 million for a study to define what a new or expanded jail would look like and what programs could reduce the county’s ballooning inmate population.